UAE telcos are VoIP ready

Etisalat and du react to claims that TRA will legalize the technology

With claims that VoIP services could soon be made available to customers in the UAE, telecom operators du and Etisalat both state that they are ready to rollout the technology to customers as soon as TRA makes a final decision.

Mohamed Al Ghanim, director general of TRA, yesterday confirmed that a framework was currently under development for VoIP providers.

In 2006, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said it would allow internet telephony through licensed operators du and Etisalat, but only for local calls within the UAE.

UAE customers have long been waiting to take advantage of VoIP to place international calls across the internet at a reasonable cost.

Earlier this year, Etisalat stated that it’s ready to offer VoIP services and du has now confirmed the same to itp.net.

“Since we already offer voice, video and data services over IP to all our customers who use du fixed and home services, we have the entire necessary infrastructure in place and will be able to provide VOIP services within the timeframe stipulated by the TRA,” commented Farid Faraidooni, EVP Commercial, du

“It is too early to be talking about the benefits to our customers as we have not yet received any formal instructions from the TRA regarding this and so naturally cannot talk about specifics at this stage,” Faraidooni added.

We have heard arguments and counter-arguments on VOIP in the UAE for years. As a consumer; what is acceptable to me would be full spectrum VOIP without any limitations whatsoever on international standards.
Please stop these gimmicks like "VOIP for local calls" and start taking the consumers seriously.
May I reqeust TRA/ETISALAT/DU to pay a little attention to our neighbour BATELCO, Bahrain doing ? There are lessons to learn from them.

It is good to see some developments in the VoIP legalization in the UAE. The only thing that struck me in this article is, what would be the attraction of using VoIP for local calls!!?? For most part, local calls are free on landlines within emirates, so this entire talk on VoIP for local calls has no significance. Keeping in mind the expat population base and the exorbitant international charges, it is the international VoIP calls that consumers want here.

Well, Qatar government has officially declared that VOIP in Qatar is legal for personal use. This is great step towards make a better communication in this part of the world. The GCC is full of expats who need to talk to their friends and family back home and VOIP provides a cheap alternative to stay in touch. The world over, VOIP is the dominant form of communication these days with better voice quality available.
The other GCC countries should take a clue from Qatar and make VOIP legal. These will drive traffic and will surely compensate the providers in terms of overall revenue.